leading the charge on women, michelle obama. >> are you ready for this? >> reporter: in all, five of the prime time speakers tonight at the convention are women. charged with delivering tonight's official keynote address, julian castro, the 37-year-old mayor of san antonio. democrats hope his personal story will resonate with latinos. >> my mother worked very hard so that joaquin and i could have a very good shot in life and reach our dreams. >> reporter: joaquin is castro's twin brother, who will introduce him tonight. castro is one of six hispanics speaking tonight. but while modern conventions are tightly scripted affairs, before this gathering even started, a basic question tripped up the democrats. >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. >> reporter: while martin o'malley reversed himself the next day. >> we are clearly better off as a country because we're creating jobs rather than losing them. >> reporter: it hasn't stopped the republican ticket fro